Synthesis of tin nanorods via a sonochemical method combined with a polyol process.

Metallic tin nanorods were synthesized by a sonochemical method employing the polyol process. In the reaction a solution of SnCl2 in ethylene glycol was exposed to high-intense ultrasound irradiation. The phase and elemental compositions, and thermal properties of the as-synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, EDX, SAED, XPS, DSC, TGA, and BET measurements. The morphologies of the products were further characterized with SEM, TEM, and HRTEM. The results show that crystallized metallic tin nanorods in diameters of 50-100 nm and in lengths of up to 3 microm were synthesized. The nanorods are encapsulated in a thin layer containing Ti and carbon compounds. On the basis of the obtained data, a possible mechanism of the formation of tin nanorods was proposed.